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If it's relevant we'll print it and give you credit for the information. 28th May 2006: Angelina Jolie Gives Birth to baby
"Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt" "The night of May 27, 2006, in Namibia, Africa, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt welcomed their daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. No further information is being given," publicist Cindy Guagenti said in a statement. No photographs were being released, she added. The baby's arrival had been the subject of intense media speculation, compelling the superstar couple to decamp to Africa for privacy. The actors were linked romantically shortly after appearing together in the 2005 movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Jolie, 30, is a frequent visitor to Africa and serves as goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She has two adopted children: toddler Zahara, from Ethiopia, and 4-year-old Maddox, from Cambodia. Both children had their surnames legally changed to Jolie-Pitt after Pitt announced his intentions to co-adopt the children. Pitt and Jolie are not married. He and actress Jennifer Aniston divorced last fall. Jolie, who won an Oscar for her supporting role in 1999's "Girl, Interrupted," is divorced from Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller. The government of Namibia went to extraordinary lengths to try to protect Pitt and Jolie from the media as the couple awaited the birth of their child in seclusion at a luxury resort on the Namibian coast. The Namibian Embassy in Pretoria told journalists seeking visas that they had to have permission from Pitt and Jolie in writing before they would be allowed into the country. The government, which has seen its profile as a tourist destination increased by the celebrity visit, arrested photographers, confiscated film, set up large green barriers on the beach to shield the couple and their children, ringed the hotel with heavy security and threatened to expel any journalist trying to cover the birth without the parents' permission. "This lady is expecting," Namibian Prime Minister Nahas Angula told South Africa's Sunday Times last month. "You guys are harassing her. Why don't you allow her some privacy? Harassment is not allowed in Namibia." Interest escalated Tuesday when Pitt sent an e-mail to the Cannes Film Festival, saying he was unable to attend because of the baby's "imminent arrival." Before Pitt and Jolie took up residence in Namibia, the government had never required that journalists get permission from private citizens -- foreign or otherwise -- to obtain a visa. Darryn Lyons, chairman of Big Pictures, which runs the Web site Mr. Paparazzi.com, said earlier this week he had a team in Namibia, but that none of his photographers had been arrested. He added someone -- perhaps even the midwife -- with a small camera or one built into a mobile phone stood to make a lot of money. "You could probably buy Namibia with that picture," he said, estimating the first picture of Pitt and Jolie's baby would be worth $5 million. 18th November 2004: Greatest stories ever sold Kevin Roxburgh, who runs Saltney-based Egyptian Dreams, near Chester, supplied 2 1/2 tonnes of papyrus for epic movie Alexander the Great. Oliver Stone produced the film, which also stars Sir Anthony Hopkins and Colin Farrell. The sandals and swords epic, just released in America, is expected to reach British screens in January. Kevin, married to wife Sabine with three step-daughters, was asked by London's Pinewood film studios to produce authentic-looking Egyptian paper. Kevin said: "It was unbelievable. The props manager working on the film had been trawling the world looking for someone who could supply, of all things, blank sheets of papyrus. "It was the very first paper manufactured by mankind, made from reeds growing at the side of the River Nile." "He said he needed 200 sheets and could I send him some samples." "A couple of weeks went by and I thought nothing was going to happen. Then they telephoned with an order for 40,000 sheets. Because of my contacts, I managed to source a supplier who could still produce reed paper in this ancient way and meet their demand." Kevin's Egyptian-made paper features in scenes set in the Great Library of Alexandria. It was founded by Alexander's general Ptolemy II who ruled Egypt in the third century BC. The library was said to hold thousands of scrolls and was often frequented by Aristotle, but was destroyed by a fire during an attack on the city by Julius Caesar in 47 BC. The film tells the story of Alexander, the Macedonian king who conquered the then known world before his death aged just 33. Kevin is looking forward to seeing the film. The 36-year-old said: "I am just hoping to get an invite to the opening night. Perhaps they will need some more papyrus to put the invites on. Kevin set up his Flintshire internet business, run
from his home on Vyrnwy Road, in February last year. The former
IT specialist and website developer got fed up with his career and
decided a new direction was needed, based on his passion for Egyptology. 17th November 2004: Alexander Premiers in Los Angeles Talking about his character, Farrell said: "He was everything. He was a contradiction in terms. You know, he was soft, he was strong, he was gentle, he was ferocious, he was a complete contradiction as a man." Val Kilmer reunited with The Doors director Stone for the film, in which he plays Alexander's father Philip. "We had a great time working together 10 years ago -- it's 10 years already - in The Doors," said Kilmer. "I'm so proud of Colin Farrell, this is his best role so far and the whole cast is amazing." Angelina Jolie plays Colin Farrell's mother in the film. "And this was actually more fun to make for me because I didn't have the pressure of playing the lead and all those responsibilities, which are awesome. Preparation for the film was rigorous, with many of the actors undergoing intense physical training to get into shape to play members of the invading armies. Farrell said: "It was tough. It was a hard shoot physically and emotionally. All the boys involved put themselves on the line, and it was a blast." Alexander cost a reported $150m (£80m) to produce
and follows on the heels of Troy, the epic movie starring Brad Pitt
as the Greek warrior based on Homer's The Iliad. 1st November 2004: What makes a leader? Not so coincidentally, culture has rushed in to fill the void with visionaries from yesteryear — exhibits on George Washington and Alexander Hamilton at Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art and New-York Historical Society respectively; new biographies of Washington and Napoleon nemesis Lord Horatio Nelson. Meanwhile, reality TV is mining the executive suite for weekly series. On Nov. 9, Fox launches "The Rebel Billionaire," with Virgin companies founder Richard Branson, to counter NBC phenom "The Apprentice," Donald Trump's master class in management. We won't, however, hit the leadership mother lode until Nov. 24 when Oliver Stone releases "Alexander," with Colin Farrell as the Macedonian king whose conquest of the Persian Empire disseminated Greek culture in the East and changed the face of Western civilization. He was also arguably the finest field commander the world has ever seen. "We've been in a crisis of leadership for some time now," says Partha Bose, author of "Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy" (Gotham Books). "This is why Alexander resonates today." The fog of war.. Ask virtually any Alexander historian what made him a great leader, and they will answer you the same way: "He led from the front. He never asked his men to do anything he wouldn't do himself." The examples from a legendary life (356-323 B.C.) are legion: Alexander always seemed to be the first to charge up some riverbank or scale a high wall. Laura Foreman, author of the new "Alexander the Conqueror" (Da Capo Press), likes to tell the story of Alexander's march in 325 B.C. across the grueling Makran Desert (in present-day Pakistan), something no one had ever accomplished before. At one point, some of Alexander's men found a little water and brought it to their king so he could slake his thirst. Instead, a grateful Alexander poured it into the searing sand: If they could not drink, neither would he. Heartened, the army continued its march, emerging from the desert after two months — but not without a terrible loss of life. Why did he risk this challenge, and the welfare of his men? The leader walks a fine line between fortitude and foolhardiness. And what is heroic in one age, appears merely reckless in the next. Indeed, observers say, it is not that we lack leaders with the daring and skills of Alexander today, but that the landscape of leadership has shifted — from the hands-on autocracy of an Alexander to high-tech democracy, in which those at the top are often at a remove, and a disadvantage. "When we think of leaders in battles today, we think of them at command centers way back behind the front lines," says Jim Lindsay, producer and director of The History Channel's "Alexander the Great" (8 p.m. Nov. 7). "Wars are now fought in different ways. For all practical purposes, there are no clear rules anymore. How do you advise soldiers how to recognize the enemy when it could be an 18-year-old girl with explosives strapped to her?...The battlefield has gotten foggy." The vision thing... But just because the rules of engagement have changed on the battlefield and in the boardroom — compounded by increasingly intricate layers of technology and bureaucracy — doesn't absent the leader from accountability. "It probably does make it more difficult," says Donald Trump of leading in a shifting landscape. "I am fortunate to have a solid core group working for me, as I am very much involved in all my businesses. This takes time and requires patience, but it's worth it. Everyone reports to me, and no one can remain 'uninvolved' or once-removed." Nor do the changing rules of engagement mean that we can't learn from history, observers say. And the lesson of history is that there is no leader without first a dream, an idea that is either a response to a current crisis or a plan for the future. Think of Elizabeth I, forged in religious strife, presiding over England's golden age; Gandhi, choosing the nonviolent path to India's independence; Martin Luther King Jr. championing the content of a person's character as the criterion for acceptance. "You have to have confidence in your abilities, your instincts, your vision," says Trump, who named the most luxurious suite in the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City after Alexander the Great. In an age when myths were real and kings could become gods, Alexander envisioned himself as the new Achilles, striking out for the East once more but this time for a prize greater than Troy — the Persian Empire and beyond. But it's not enough to have a dream. You must persuade others to share it. "Great leaders instill great loyalty," Trump says. "That was something that impressed me from the get-go," filmmaker Lindsay says of Alexander, "how one guy could get 40,000 other guys to follow him for 12 years for 20,000 miles. Talk about charisma." The common touch... Alexander had more than charisma. There was the well-trained Macedonian army's appetite for glory and treasure; the Greeks' fear of Persian aggression and desire to avenge past atrocities; his youth, beauty and charm, crystallized into an iconic image. And something else. "What makes Alexander a great leader is the connections," author Bose says. "He could be seen hanging out with his generals, planning pitch battles or visiting with his troops. He would call out his men by name and remind them of battles in which they had fought well." "He also expended resources on the army. He wasn't cheap," says historian William M. Murray, one of the on-camera experts in The History Channel's "Alexander the Great." "The army was well-paid....The men went back home rich, which is something we know from their tombs." Alexander's bond with his men would be echoed at the turn of the 19th century by British admiral Horatio Nelson, says author Foreman, who co-wrote "Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile." "The basics of their management style were so similar: Without people under you, you're going nowhere." This is in sharp contrast, she says, to some of today's managers, who are more interested in kissing up to their employers than promoting their employees. The true leader, observers say, is secure enough to cultivate the talents of others. "I try to hire people who are smarter than I am, because if they do a great job, it will reflect on me," says author Bose, a former North White Plains resident who serves as marketing director at the law firm of Allen & Overy in London. Few leaders absorbed this lesson better than George Washington, who mentored such brilliant young officers as Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette and who combined such diverse luminaries as Hamilton, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in his administration. Alexander, too, had "excellent sub-officers, five or six generals who would later emerge as kings," historian Murray says. And he conferred real power on them. But he was also something of a control freak, scouting locales, knowing what goods and equipment were needed, planning battles down to the minutiae and always keeping plan B at the ready. The leader, Murray says, must strike the balance between Ronald Reagan's delegation of authority and Jimmy Carter's mastery of detail. Buoyed on a wire... Perhaps the toughest balancing act of all, however, is the one between concern for others and the need to remain somewhat aloof. You can see this struggle in the Met's insightful "Gilbert Stuart" show, as the determined face of Washington gives nothing away. Historian Robin Lane Fox, adviser on the film "Alexander," says he spent time discussing the isolation of leadership with star Farrell, who displayed what he calls "real Alexander style" on the set — commanding and fearless: "He said to me, 'You can have plenty of friends, but when you're set apart, you can be lonely.'" The movie star intuits what the leader soon learns — that when you belong to everyone, you risk belonging to no one. And yet, the leader can't afford to lose touch with his people and his origins, which many historians say happened to Alexander as he became virtually omnipotent, farther removed from the Macedon of his youth, more inured in his quest for the far horizon, and more susceptible to the loss of those who had known and loved him best. Still, against all odds and the possibility of plummeting into despair, the leader dances on the wire, buoyed by something that has sustained leaders from the beginning. It is the quality that accompanied Alexander on his quest. Once when he gave away much of his booty, one of his men asked him what he would be left with. He replied simply, "My hopes."
28th October 2004: Luhrmann's Alexander is defeated
"No!" Kidman says when asked if Luhrmann was going to go ahead with the much-delayed project, which was going to rival Oliver Stone's Alexander, due next month. In Stone's film, Angelina Jolie plays Olympias to Colin Farrell's Alexander. "I was too!" Kidman says when told that viewers were eager to compare the two films and that many were more intrigued by the possibilities of Luhrmann's vision. Luhrmann, who used Kidman as his femme fatale in Moulin
Rouge, last worked with her on a spectacular, multimillionaire Chanel
ad in which she plays herself, a movie star escaping media hordes
in a Moulin Rouge-like fantasy setting. 18th October 2004: Colin Farrell discusses playing
Alexander Director Oliver Stone on casting Farrell as Alexander: "I was looking for a young god, who could act .... An Alexander who could walk into the room and look in the eyes of any man, and he could move them to be beyond themselves." He continues, "It's a combination of masculinity and, at the same time, beauty and femininity. It's a beautiful balance if you can pull it off." Co-star Angelina Jolie on how she thinks the role
helped Farrell: "[the tough role] helped him become more of
a man. I know it was hard, the hours were hard, and the physical
labor was hard, and he was allowing all his demons to come through
... but I was kind of secretly sitting in the corner, excited, happy
for his pain, knowing that it would make him grow." 5th October 2004: Warner Bros. denies delaying
Alexander over gay scenes 5th October 2004: How did Alexander Die? The jealous wife theory is being propounded by Graham Phillips, who believes Alexander was murdered by Roxane in revenge for taking another wife or perhaps flaunting his homosexual lover, Hephaestion, who also died in mysterious circumstances. He believes Hephaestion and Alexander suffered the classic symptoms of strychnine poisoning. Roxane was one of the few people who could have known about the deadly derivative of the strychnine plant Strychnos nux vomica. What little is known about Alexander's death starts in Babylon, cultural capital of the ancient world, with a funeral feast held in May in 323BC in honour of the late Hephaestion. Roman historians suggest Alexander was gripped by pain before collapsing. "The initial symptoms were agitation, tremors, aching or stiffness in the neck, followed by a sudden, sharp pain in the area of the stomach," Phillips says in his new book Alexander the Great: Murder in Babylon. "He then collapsed and suffered excruciating agony wherever he was touched. Alexander also suffered from an intense thirst, fever and delirium, and, throughout the night, he experienced convulsions and hallucinations. In the final stages he could not talk. Ultimately, his breathing became difficult and he fell into a coma and died. Toxicologists at the University of California told Phillips the symptoms fitted those of poisoning by strychnine. The toxin came from a plant that at the time grew only in the Indus valley, where Alexander had visited two years earlier with Roxane, he said. Professor Robin Lane-Fox of Oxford University, who
acted as the history consultant for Stone, is sceptical of claims
of Roxane's guilt. "Alexander had many old wounds, he travelled
in marshes riddled with malaria, he drank all night. He simply might
have had a seizure." 1st October 2004: New Trailer 22nd September 2004: Release Date Changed? Fellman said the studio had a variety of reasons for the date switch, but insisted Stone would have had the film ready for the original date. More pressing reasons for the switch, he said, was the fear it would be difficult to gain marketing momentum amidst a blizzard of final campaign ads before the Nov. 2 presidential election. Another consideration was a desire by WB to put the film and performances by Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Val Kilmer, in closer proximity to other Oscar contenders. "We took a good look at the movie in rough form, and if it's not the best film he's ever directed, it's close," Fellman said. "It has a lot of Academy potential that will be enhanced by the change in timing, and we will also have the ability to focus better on an adult audience. Our advertising and publicity departments would have had to compete against the elections, and you don't want to lose to the presidential candidates." Fellman said he was confident Stone will stay close to schedule and deliver the film with enough time to properly screen it for critics. That would have been a closer call with the Nov. 5 date. The film had been expected to go head-to-head with Pixar's "The Incredibles," and Fellman didn't regret avoiding that battle. He noted that while the G-rated film would seem to pose little competition for an R-rated film, Pixar offerings traditionally dominate their opening weekends, with adults taking their kids to the theater. "Alexander" now will square off against the Fox drama "Flight of the Phoenix," the Revolution comedy "Christmas with the Kranks" and the national rollout for Miramax's "Finding Neverland." Fellman predicted other pieces on the chessboard might move as a result of the date switch for "Alexander," an epic that will clock in at around two hours and 45 minutes and likely will bow on about 2,500 screens. "Thanksgiving is traditionally a competitive period, but we've given our marketing department a chance to be in the trenches longer and work harder on the picture," Fellman said. "We'll be ready to play in the big game." The move will affect the overseas openings of "Alexander" in several territories, including Germany and Latin America. Plans to open in those countries in mid-November will be pushed back, since WB has always been guaranteed first crack in the U.S. 3rd September 2004: Parsis up in arms against Oliver
Stone film According to Mumbai-based Firuza Punthakee Mistree, co-author of the book Zoroastrian Tapestry, unlike the western world, the Parsis know Alexander as the accursed because he had murdered the community's priests, destroyed fire temples and burnt down Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Persian empire. Asked Sam Billimoria, a California resident, "How would Christians react if Genghis Khan or Atilla the Hun was shown with the holy cross as the backdrop? From what I have seen from the promo, Alexander's name on the Farohar symbol is very insulting to the whole Zoroastrian community. I consider him an an exterminator akin to Hitler. History condemns Hitler, yet glorifies Alexander." Community members based in the US said the man spearheading the protest was none other than music maestro Zubin Mehta, a Parsi himself. On August 28, Mehta was a guest of honour at a function organised by the Zoroastrian Association of California (ZAC) in the city of Irvine, which is in the greater Los Angeles area. It was here that the world-famous conductor informed the audience about the "misleading" use of the Farohar symbol. According to ZAC member Maneck Bhujwala, who was present in the gathering, Mehta said that he had called Oliver Stone (who knows him) and left a message for him and others connected with the movie to remove the symbol immediately. "He urged all of us to follow up on this and organise a huge protest about it," said Bhujwala in an e-mail to Times News Network. Dhun Dalal, another ZAC member, said, "Zubin had called me to tell me that he had seen the Farohar symbol behind the name Alexander in the advertisement for the movie. At that time, I had not seen the ad. He asked me if there was someone from our community who would write a letter protesting this ad." 4th August 2004: Great Expectations - Oliver stone
vanquishes the competition, emerging on the boxoffice battlefield
with 'Alexander' 25th July 2004: Alexander Music Preview 23rd July 2004: Colin Farrell talks about Alexander Farrell says that in Alexander, his private life will certainly be out there, however, "It's hard to have a private life when you're a king, but his personal life, for sure, is touched on, but not in a way that highlights it," Farrell explains. "I'll tell you one thing, anything that was needed for Oliver to tell a story the way that he intended it to be told is not taken out as a result of, again, appeasing the people or being afraid of what people won't be able to handle." Farrell says that working on Alexander was his toughest work experience to date. "You're playing Alexander, which was just a life with so much loss, ambition, destiny, so many questions and very few answers. It was physically, emotionally, psychologically draining and there was so much philosophical thought, feeling and pain that went into it. For my money, it's a pretty sad story. It's not 'Alexander the Great, TADA!', but a pretty sad, heavy story." The toughness of making Alexander had as much to do as the demands placed on him by director Oliver Stone. "Oliver definitely demands a different respect as each human demands a different way of trying to pull them out of themselves and dance with him. Oh man, he was very honest with me from day one, very tough and he should've been." Tough, Farrell says, "in the brutality of his honesty… At the same time, when he told you that was a great take, you knew it was a great take. He didn't dance around the truth, thank God, and there are not enough people in the world that has the brutal honesty that he has." 14th July 2004: Stone Wins Alexander Race - Or
Maybe Not However, disputing those accounts, Luhrmann's Australia-based rep, Maria Farmer, said the filmmaker has not scuttled Alexander and is still firming up plans for his next cinematic outing. "Baz is currently in Europe working on the final draft of his script for Alexander the Great. When he completes that draft he will decide whether Alexander is the next film on his slate," Farmer told E! Online. "We do not know where these reports have originated from. They certainly did not come from Baz." A coproduction of Universal Pictures and DreamWorks, Alexander the Great is supposed to star Leonardo DiCaprio as the boy king and Nicole Kidman as Alexander's mother, Olympia. It had been scheduled to start shooting this spring in the director's native Australia and hit theaters sometime in 2005. Ever the perfectionist, Luhrmann had already postponed shooting on the film once, opting not to rush work on the film simply to "be drawn into a race," as he put it to the Los Angeles Times last year. The initial delay ensured that a competing project from Warner Bros. and helmer Oliver Stone, simply titled Alexander, would be the first one into production. That film, budgeted at $150 million and starring Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie and Anthony Hopkins, is scheduled for release on Thanksgiving. Luhrmann had scouted locations in Jordan, and producer Dino De Laurentiis signed a deal with Morocco's King Mohammed VI to build three soundstages there in exchange for the king putting more than 4,000 soldiers and 8,000 horses at Luhrmann's disposal. But after a series of suicide bombings in Casablanca in May 2003, Luhrmann opted to shoot Down Under as a safeguard against terrorism. The filmmaker forged ahead with preproduction, beginning work on the flick's digital effects, filming some background shots in the Himalayas, and even shooting a promo reel, featuring DiCaprio in full gladiator garb, to hype Alexander the Great at last year's Cannes Film Festival. In an article last year, however, Variety hinted that Luhrmann was considering shelving Alexander the Great and taking on another project instead. Much of that decision hinged upon the latest draft of the script by David Hare, which was delivered in February, and which Luhrmann working on right now. The New York Post, meanwhile, reported that Kidman was "downhearted" about the cancellation. DiCaprio's rep, Ken Sunshine, had no comment on the report. Despite shooting the preview footage, the Titanic star reportedly has yet to sign a contract. DiCaprio, who recently finished filming on Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, will next segue into The Good Shepherd, a historical film about the CIA to be directed by Robert De Niro. So even if Luhrmann were able to get things moving again with Alexander, he'd have to find time in Leo's ever-busy schedule or find another actor. Luhrmann is best known for his "Red Curtain trilogy"--1992's
Strictly Ballroom, 1996's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and
2001's Oscar-nominated Moulin Rouge! 12th July 2004: Stone Wins Alexander Race 18th May 2004: Charging for Alexander - BBC4 Interview
with Robin Lane Fox BBC Four: How did the professional riders in Oliver
Stone's cavalry react to the presence of an Oxford don in their
ranks? BBC Four: As an academic, what were your impressions
of the blockbuster movie making process? BBC Four: What were the hardest questions that Stone
asked you as an historian? 8th May 2004: Robin Lane Fox - Into Battle with
Alexander
Stone is not the first director to be attracted to Alexander, or the first to come to me for help. Back in 1974 I found myself in London, at the Ritz, discussing plans for an Alexander movie with Gregory Peck, dressed in one of those famous white suits. He fancied himself as Alexander’s father, Philip, the man who knew how it had all begun. Twentieth Century Fox were willing to finance it, but sadly the great man died first and the torch passed to Time Life films instead. In autumn 1977 they embarked on their script for a major Alexander series to be broadcast as “docudrama” round the world with a budget of tens of millions of dollars. In their wisdom, they chose a director, unknown in Europe, who was most famous for a film on the prisons of the American South. Our meeting in Oxford was not a great success. It was not just that the Randolph Hotel served him with green-coloured potato chips; it was that his main interests were the drugs supposedly taken by Alexander and the great man’s meeting with the High Priest of the Jews. In fact, there is not a shred of evidence that Alexander took any recreational drug, except quantities of wine. His meeting with the High Priest in Jerusalem is a pure fiction, invented about 200 years after his death. After spending several million dollars, Time Life scaled down the project and turned it into a superficially scripted, cut-price alternative. Three years later, just as a tutorial on early Sparta was coming to an inconclusive close in my Oxford college rooms, Steven Spielberg’s producers rang up to tell me with excitement how Alexander had “dreamt his way from the farm” to conquer the world by the age of 25. “Steven really gets this youth thing in history,” they told me, “and he wants you to do a treatment of the childhood theme.” I took it on only as an escape route from tutorials, but before I could finish Steven struck first and sent me a telegram: “Have decided to get out of youth. Alexander is off. Steven.” By 2001 three major projects were said to be in the air, but I was half relieved that none of them had given me a workout again. The huge television company HBO was rumoured to be budgeting up to $200 million for a series on Alexander, directed by Mel Gibson, who would play King Philip himself and preside over a script which was believed to be full of sodomy and filthy language. Instead, he filmed Jesus on the Cross with violence and in Aramaic. The elderly Dino Di Laurentiis was talking expansively about his plans for the big movie, casting the effete Leonardo DiCaprio as Alexander. The press were full of him, with only a few allusions to the parallel plans of the controversial Stone. Two years later, it is Stone who has won and has closed the lid on an extraordinary 16 weeks’ filming. The mood of movies starts from the top and is either hellish or heavenly. I have talked to all the participants and been one of them, and I have to say that for all of us, Alexander has tended to the heavenly end of the scale. It still has to be cut and who knows what the public taste will be after the release of Wolfgang Petersen’s film about Troy? But I have seen the uncut dailies and I promise you, you are all in for a memorable treat. When Stone invited me to London two years ago to discuss Alexander with him, perhaps I should have asked for millions of dollars and a film credit for my book. No doubt he would have found somebody else to advise him among the dozens of more prudent historians who also engage with this subject around the world. Before our meeting, however, I had arranged my priorities in case the relationship went well. I decided to ask for two rewards: a place in the first 15 of every major cavalry charge to be filmed in Alexander’s company and the words “and introducing” in front of my name in the credits. Even Stone was taken aback by this request. He pointed out that “and introducing” would be impossible because there is a professional hierarchy in such matters. My request to ride in the cavalry charge caused him consternation too, until I assured him that I have ridden for 45 years and risked every bone, still unbroken, in my body in the yearly pursuit of English foxes. There would be health and safety problems, he hardly needed to tell me, but, “OK, I’ll tell them to do it, if I possibly can . . . we’ll have a rebel on horseback . . . you’re mad; you’re a cross between Peter Sellers and Ian Fleming.” Has any cavalryman ever gone off to mock-battle with such a pedigree? “A rebel on horseback...” Only now do I discover the allusion lurking in those words. In the early 1980s Stone made his name with his first great film, Salvador, which ended with an emotional scene of his left-wing guerrilla heroes galloping on horseback against an array of repressive American tanks. It was too much for some of the critics, but now he had his chance to redress the political balance. He could send an Old Etonian on horseback through the dust clouds in pursuit of a mirage of antiquity’s greatest king. We embarked on what would become a thrice-weekly quiz game late at night. Hollywood and Oxford University are in different time zones, and so after his lunch Stone would ring me in the evening in the Cotswolds and bombard me with questions, not many of which I could answer. Did Alexander’s men ever eat melons? What did Aristotle really think about the ancient myths? What did the main god of Babylon look like? Alexander’s Macedonia was Greek, but what would his Greek language sound like to other educated ears further south in Athens? Should his star, Colin Farrell, have blond highlights in his hair? Alexander had a sexual nature, but as the film, correctly, was not going to turn him in to a “gay” from a counter-culture, how should his passionate life be handled? My colleagues told me that for historians, Stone was supposed to be like Satan, perhaps because they had seen his film of Nixon and I had not. Like the poet John Milton, I have to say I quickly became very fond of Satan. Anyway, the claim that Stone has no historical sense is completely untrue. I was stretched, as he was, by constant consultations which were concerned to do as much justice as possible to the little evidence which we have. Then out in Morocco, in the heat of mid-September, it was time to begin my cavalry career. I won’t give away too much of the BBC Four documentary that recorded the events on set, but I can reveal that my military trainer was the fabled Captain Dale Dye, best known for teaching the two Natural Born Killers Micky and Mallory in Stone’s notorious film. On set, the Captain wears a T-shirt, stating “Pain is weakness leaving the body”. It is a message guaranteed to terrorise a natural-born shirker from Oxford. But it was I, not he, who got on the horse and led the cavalry. He was photographed only on a camel at a slow walk. Through clouds of dust, out there in the desert, I solved old scholarly questions: whether Alexander’s cavalrymen had shields (they did not), whether they could lance an unprotected enemy through the chest (I experimented and proved it with the willing Ibrahim) and whether they could pull out a lance from a body after death (they could, if they lanced a man in the shoulder, as I lanced a major star who spoke French). But what the footage shows is only the beginning of an orgy of charging which later took me to Thailand and pitted me with bare legs against Stone’s elephants. In a dust cloud, horses are as stressed as men; it is also impossible for men ten paces behind a leader to see him when he signals a turn to left or right. The key people are the men immediately in front and on either side. Just like the little band of soldiers in Stone’s own masterpiece, Platoon, set in Vietnam. I have to say that I would have died for Colin Farrell by the end, a loyalty which was widely shared. In Bangkok, in a darkened hotel room, we sat watching uncut dailies of the final emotional scenes of Stone’s film-to-be; the company were all male and muscular, but I could not stop myself from sobbing in the closing moments. Fortunately, another man could be seen in combat trousers sitting on the floor and doing the same and when the lights came on I saw that it was Farrell, equally transported by the evocation of the great Alexander whom he had had to bring to life. Since then I have been offered a cavalry part in the proposed film of Hannibal. Naturally, I have refused, in disgust. Once you have charged for Alexander, how could you possibly charge for a one-eyed Carthaginian bandit who wandered for seven years around Italy before going to bed with any Italian woman at all — and then she was a tart? I am happy to continue in my desert mirage of fantasy,
but to return to reality I am forcing myself to re-read The Aeneid
in Latin, reflecting that if Alexander had lived we would have been
spared its existence. 17th April 2004: Angelina Jolie speaks about her
age 15th April 2004: Interview with Alexander Dance
Choreographer - Piers Gielgud Piers: Definitely. It wasn't my first film, but it was only through a lucky accident that I was in it at all. I stopped dancing in 1993 (after 11 years) when I was 32, however the choreographer was Karole Armitage who is one of my Idols, and I insisted on going to the casting at Re.Animator Management which is run by my wife Suzanne. I'd been told it was a character/mime part so I arrived in a suit and tie. Of course it was all dancing. Karole first set a complicated routine of turns and jumps, and then had me improvise an aggressive duet with Stephen Hughes (this was when he was still one of the finest contemporary dancers in the UK, before my wife turned him into a Musical Theatre God). I felt very stupid (everyone else was in dance gear) but I got the job. I learned a lot from Karole. Every day she was fully prepared but if something spontaneous happened in the studio she went with it, and I think the results were fabulous. I was also a bit disappointed with what ended up in the film, but this taught me a valuable lesson that film choreography has to be totally objective and functional and above all disposable. It has to fit in with what the director wants; otherwise it's no use to anybody. Golden Bowl was also very hard work. In all the sequence was about 10 minutes with lots of lifts, jumps and a big fight at the end. We were called for 6am and were wrapped at 10pm. I can't remember how many times we did it but by the time we finished, all of us were shattered. Carol: You have Choreographed two feature films which are due out in 2004 - Alexander for Oliver Stone, and Being Julia for Istvan Szabo. What do you think you bring to those projects from a choreography point of view? Piers: Until I see the finished films it will be hard to see if I've done anything for either of them. I try to avoid looking at rushes to avoid the disappointment of seeing my work cut to ribbons in the final version, which it usually is. There is only a small amount of dancing in Being Julia (waltzing at a garden party) and I think Istvan (Szabo) thought he wouldn't need a choreographer, so I was brought in at the last minute when he realised he did (I'd like to see someone try and make a film without a director!). I had to teach two of the principals - Jeremy Irons and Leigh Lawson - how to waltz convincingly. They worked hard and both had superb partners (west end dancers Lauren Brooke and Frankie Wedge) so I thought they both looked quite convincing. I think I did a reasonably good job and I hope it gives something to the finished film. Alexander, by complete contrast, has a lot of dancing in it. Oliver (Stone) decided to emphasise two of the film's pivotal scenes with big dance numbers, so the choreography was substantially more significant than it had been for (Being) Julia. In addition there was a lot of background dancing to deal with. I only worked on Julia for 1 week, but I worked on Alexander from the beginning of July to the end of December 2003. I had to do a lot of research for authenticity (dancing from Macedonia, and around the vast Persian Empire back in 350BC - I'm basically a ballet man but for film you must be able to do anything you are asked). I also had to collaborate closely with the 'Oscar winning' composer Vangelis who is fabulous to work with. All his music for Alexander is incredible. I think it will eclipse anything he has done before. Working with him on the music for the dances was a unique and altogether mind blowing experience. Oliver is also a dream to work with. He knows exactly what he wants and how to go about getting it. It's a true collaboration. He works very closely with you and he values your opinion and input. He also has an uncanny method of making you want to do your very best for him. The script is extraordinary (remember that Oliver's first Oscar was for screenwriting) and the fact that he has placed so much emphasis on dance, leads me to believe that the choreography could make a significant contribution to the finished film. I certainly think that Oliver got some of my very best work from me. Carol: Alexander has a huge dance cast. How long did it take to get everyone together before shooting? Piers: It felt like forever! My first job on joining the production was to help the Casting Director, Lucinda Syson, find the two main characters that dance. Most difficult to find was the eunuch Bagoas who had to be an androgynous 17-year-old boy of extraordinary beauty, as well as being an amazing dancer, who could act. Lucinda had been searching for months, looking at both male and female actors, dancers, models, transsexuals, real eunuchs etc. but to no avail. My wife Suzanne suggested the Spanish ENB dancer Francisco Bosch, who she'd recently signed. We both coached him on his dialogue and I choreographed a solo for him, which he performed for Oliver in his office. Oliver was blown away and Francisco was virtually offered the part on the spot. The part of the Princess Roxane was too difficult an acting role for the dancers we submitted, and it eventually went to the actress Rosario Dawson who is fortunately a gifted amateur dancer. Suzanne went on to cast all the remaining dancers in Alexander but because of the other films with dancers going on at the same time, very few people were available. I only had a full cast together literally by the first day of rehearsal on each occasion. I was very lucky in that all the dancers I got to work with were truly amazing. I like to work with the same people when I can, and now I'm seriously spoilt for choice. There was a very magical atmosphere on Alexander - it's going to be a tough act to follow. Carol: It's a great time to be a choreographer working in Cinema, with films like Bye Bye Birdie and The Company coming soon. Are you excited about the opportunities being generated for dancers on film at the moment? Piers: Definitely (have either of them booked a choreographer
yet?) but I am also concerned. Suzanne and I have had to work very
hard to make sure that our dancers are treated properly on Films.
Dancers are frequently kept waiting for ages in the freezing cold
before being asked to dance full out with no breaks between takes.
They're rarely given a class or a warm up. They are usually expected
to dance on surfaces that are dangerous, and have to avoid dangerous
objects (on one film recently, a group of dancers had to negotiate
a herd of terrified sheep!). It's a miracle the injury rate isn't
higher. Most of the time they are treated like extras, which is
completely unacceptable. I'm a qualified Health and Safety officer
(Nerd alert!) and I was able to do Risk Assessments for the Alexander
dancing scenes, which were fully implemented by the production.
Suzanne and I are currently working with Equity on a dancers' film
contract that should iron out all these problems in the future.
We've asked all our dancers who've done a film in the last year
to contribute by completing a questionnaire regarding their treatment
and the conditions they were asked to work under. Most of the Alexander
dancers, however, said that it was the most amazing job they've
ever done, and I do believe that it is great experience for dancers
to work on feature films and to work with great men like Oliver
Stone. Personally I find film choreography the most rewarding of
all, and I'm glad that so many films want to feature dancers right
now. I hope it stays that way for a long time. 21st February 2004: Angelina Jolie talks about
Alexander On Oliver and Co.: "I love Oliver. Whether you agree with him or not, he just has a very strong, clear mind. He is somebody who has lived a very amazing life. He actually understands battle and life and death and friendship and loss and family and brotherhood and country more than most people in this business. We all sat around, me, Colin, Oliver, and Val Kilmer, and we've all been picked on so much as a group. We're READY for shots to be taken! Somebody said, "For a period piece, what a weird group". But if you think about it, the Greeks, they were a wild bunch, so it's not that crazy". On Colin (traveled with her and her son Maddox to
Egypt for Christmas holiday): "The three of us woke up Christmas
morning and went on camels and saw the pyramids and then spent a
few days just exploring Egypt and going to the desert and sleeping
outside. (Right now it's a friendship, but) the press leaves no
room for the idea that you would consider one day MAYBE dating.
There's no room for that. We both wanted to see Alexandria and Egypt.
He's wonderful. He's a great guy...we're similar, but, like me,
he's not out to get anybody. He's quite open and nice". 16th February 2004: Film Damaged 27th January 2004: Production Details 21st January 2004: Set report from Thailand 20th January 2004: Closed Set in Thailand 18th January 2004: A World to Conquer A mammoth operation The production itself is conceived on a truly monumental
scale, spanning three continents. Shooting began in Morocco's deserts
and Atlas mountains in late September. Interiors were shot here
for three weeks over the Christmas-New Year period. "Alexander"
has now moved to Thailand for jungle battle scenes; the 85-day shoot
concludes early next month. Enthusiastic star While getting an epic made is one thing, persuading
audiences to see it is another. Much of its success will depend
on Colin Farrell, who plays Alexander. And today he is decidedly
under the weather, with a bout of flu. Between takes he huddles
in a corner of the set, next to a heater. 14th January 2004: Filming in Thailand 12th December 2003: Farrell accidentally stabs
co-star 12th December 2003: Stone's 'Alexander' sees off
Luhrmann 11th December 2003: Vangelis to write music 24th November 2003: Farrell and Jolie NOT an item 23rd November 2003: Farrell and Jolie an item 22nd November 2003: Yet another Alexander film 5th November 2003: Surfer Boy? 22th October 2003: Angelina confused 20th October 2003: Blondes don't have all the fun 14th October 2003: Angelina quits hotel over flashing
Farrell 7th October 2003: Ian Beattie to play Antiginous 7th October 2003: Stone gives Alexander progress
report 6th October 2003: Producer Thomas Schuhly has been
talking about Alexander 2nd October 2003: Kilmer looking forward to working
with Angelina Jolie 26th September 2003: Val Kilmer concentrates on
Alexander 22nd September 2003: Shooting to begin 9th September 2003: Val Kilmer to play King Philip 8th September 2003: Scott earns his porridge 1st August 2003: Angelina Jolie and Colin Farrell
only share one scene 30th July 2003: Colin Farrell sore from riding 30th July 2003: Jared Leto to play Alexander's
lover Hephaestion 28th July 2003: Rosario Dawson to play Roxane
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